"Days before the March 1 deadline, Senate Republicans are circulating a draft bill that would cancel $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts and instead turn over authority to President Barack Obama to achieve the same level of savings under a plan to be filed by March 8
The five- page document, which has the tacit support of Senate GOP leaders, represents a remarkable shift for the party. Having railed against Senate Democrats for not passing a budget, Republicans are now proposing that Congress surrender an important piece of its Constitutional “power of the purse” for the last seven months of this fiscal year."
Is this a wise move by the Republicans? It would shine the nation's spotlight directly on Obama, perhaps revealing his warts, wrinkles, incompetency, and lack of leadership abilities. However, I'm fairly certain that this move will be interpreted, especially by the "gun-toting Tea Party psychotards", as a coronation of King Obama, and an abdication of powers granted to congress by the Constitution; in essence, raising the white flag.
Strategy, or treason?
And what's going on with Bob Woodward attacking Obama over the sequester, calling his behavior "madness"? And (he claims) getting threatened by people in the administration?
ReplyDeleteWild.
More - it seems Politico is backing Woodward here.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting... I don't understand this White House - do you?
Aaand still more. Look at the juiceboxers come with the knives out for Bob Woodward!
ReplyDeleteCould Josh Marshal possibly be a bigger f##kwit?
[Sorry to threadjack, lady red. I will lamely claim these are at least partially on topic, as regarding the sequester in general.]
And about that sequester: I say, with a not quite informed and likely less than rational outlook... let it happen. Open as always to other views on this.
'Strategy, or treason?'
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps a third option - simple incompetence comes to mind.
What is not being said, anywhere in the general press, and certainly not by either political party, is that this years federal spending is going to be approximately 3.8 Trillion dollars.
Sequestration will take 85 Billion off the top of that. Sounds like a lot, until you realize that it is approximately 2.4% of projected spending this year.
Does anyone think the government could not cut a lot more than that without harm to anything essential, or even useful?
Of course, they will cut important things as a way to simply manipulate the public. Just as cash-poor local governments always reduce the most visible things, like police services, to have the greatest impact, and bolster their calls for more taxes, the federal government is doing the same on a larger scale.
Members of government running in circles and screaming that the sky is falling does not make it so.
The only thing actually falling is the intelligence level of the population as they are purposefully fed false information by two parties whose sole interest is growing government. All they really disagree about is where the growth should happen and who should get the blame.
I have an exellent editorial cartoon about this, but don't know how to post pictures in the comments (hey, I did finally learn to do links, at least) so I will post it as a new thread, and hope someone with mad skillz can move it to here and then erase that thread.
Besides, are we even going to see any reductions at all, or is this classic US government spending 'cuts' wherein all they do is to reduce the amount of increase, then whine and wring their hands about how unfair it all is to their own pet interests?
Just as is done on the local level: if voters do not vote to increase taxes, they are threatened with cuts in police, fire, and other essential services. The crap that tax dollars are spent on is bever on the chopping block.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party should just get it over with and adopt its long-time nickname as its formal name. The shit the Stupid Party comes up with is simply amazing.
ReplyDeleteDWT and Matt are spot on about local tax issues always resulting in the Sheriff threatening to release preditory pedophiles if one red cent is cut. That people put up with this is evidence that they may, in fact, deserve a Stupid Party.